City Council Green-Lights Robertson Properties’$767M Mixed-Use TOD in Honolulu

By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

The Honolulu City Council has granted Robertson Properties Group final approval for the construction of its proposed $767 million, 1,500-home mixed-use development in Aiea.

Called “Live, Work, Play Aiea,” the project will be located across from Pearlridge Center, on the site of the former Kamehameha Drive-In property. Besides the development’s massive residential component, plans include about 143,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 80,000 square feet of office space, infrastructure improvements and possibly a hotel and senior living facility.

According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, council members have agreed to rezone the approximately 15-acre site of the project from community business district to community business mixed-use district, extending its height limit to 350 feet from the current 60 feet.

The bill allows the Los Angeles-based real estate developer to build five towers, three of which could rise as high as 350, 300 and 250 feet, while the height of the remaining two could reach about 150 feet.

Robertson Properties has also agreed to develop as much as 450 affordable housing units within the Pearlridge TOD area, or in the vicinity of other transit hubs along the city’s upcoming 20-mile rail project from Kapolei to Ala Moana.

The economic impact of “Live, Work, Play Aiea” is estimated at $2.4 billion. Construction is expected to begin this year and create approximately 1,000 jobs annually during a build-out period of about 13 years. Upon completion, the project will generate approximately 1,000 permanent jobs.

In other news, the Pacific Business News reports that Campbell Square, James Campbell Co.’s 132,048-square-foot office complex in Kapolei, has been awarded LEED Silver certification. It is the first property in Kapolei and the fourth of its kind in Hawaii to receive this designation from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Sustainable features include water conservation fixtures in lavatories and kitchens, the reuse and recycling of 75 percent of the property’s durable goods, as well as the use of environmentally friendly and safe cleaning products and materials for the property’s interior and exterior.